[QUOTE=namelesswonder;1169658]forward pull of my shoulders from the push-ups.

I've been having trouble hydrating this week. Just don't feel like drinking anything and not really getting thirsty.
.[/QUOTE]

I've recently read that if your doing push ups you need to counter balance by doing pull ups - not sure what the science is behind it - but I think it was push up work one side and pull up work the other. ???

Try sipping on water through out the day - I find drinking water through a straw is easier when I'm not really feeling like drinking anything. I've heard we drink more when drinking through a straw - that's why bars serve drinks with straws! :)

Hope you're feeling better........... those darn hormones!!! :(

04-24-2013, 10:32 AM

namelesswonder

The squats are to counteract the push-ups. My chiropractor prescribed them!

I usually sip water throughout the day, but am just not interested in doing that.

Ugh one of my toes went crazy again. So itchy and awful feeling. I just woke up to it completely inflamed out of the blue. I did have gelato last night, but I had it two nights ago and nothing happened. Maybe that added up to be too much? Blargh.

04-24-2013, 12:19 PM

jenn26point2

I have never heard of doing squats to counter pushups... interesting. I've always heard of doing a pulling exercise to counter a pushing exercise, so like Tomi said, pull ups to balance the pushups. I'll ask my chiropractor about that as I've never heard it before and it doesn't seem very intuitive to me since they use completely different muscle groups.

I hope you're feeling better soon. PMS sucks.

04-24-2013, 12:54 PM

namelesswonder

It may be that he prescribed the squats for our particular alignment issues. My hips tend to tilt forward so squats will definitely help with that. My core is weak, so it's good for that too. I'm not sure how it works exactly since they don't affect the upper back very much, but just holding the correct posture with your shoulders back (or holding a light bar, if not weights, over your shoulders) would help reinforce the correct position for those muscles anyway. It's not HUGE, maybe not enough to counter the push-ups, but that's what he told us to do!

I am feeling sad, especially if I think I too much about my family. Talking to Hulky's family makes me nervous. I'm afraid they won't like me, even though they seem to and Hulky says they do. Even after 3 years, I can't get over this feeling (and it's worse this week with me being all hormonal). I think part of me is afraid they will treat me like my family often has, which is with rather cruel teasing. I am not good at standing up for myself either so I barely realize when it's happening and just accept the bad feelings it gives me. Hulky's family is amazing though. If they tease each other, they lay off the moment someone seems unhappy or in any way distressed by it. I realized, talking to Hulky recently, that they have done this a lot for me because I don't go along with the teasing very well. They just drop it, realizing that I'm not okay with it. My family doesn't pick up on how other people feel about it and then get offended if someone says straight, "Cut it out, you are being really cruel" (that would be Hulky).

04-24-2013, 02:48 PM

jenn26point2

That is totally my husband's family! They tease each other all the time, and usually it's in good fun. Like you, I tend to get defensive and don't take it well - often it feels like a blatant attack against me rather than a fun ribbing. BIL is TERRIBLE about knowing when to quit! He just keeps pushing until it's too late to turn back. I once threw a can of beer at him b/c he wouldn't stop. (it hit him in the face and he got beer in his eye - not good when you wear contacts)

Regarding the squats. I talked to my chiropractor and she said I was taking it out of context, and actually you answered the question above. She said pushups and squats are very good for the core, so as a core exercise, they balance each other nicely. I was thinking upper body push/pull balance. Glad that's cleared up b/c I was really confused. :)

04-24-2013, 03:43 PM

namelesswonder

I was too! I"m glad it made sense in the end.

I'm looking into gout. Yeah.. Maybe unlikely, but my mom had gout in her feet when she was younger. I don't think it usually presents in toes other than the large one? Or at least, the large toe joint is usually where it shows first. The pictures online are gross, but the inflammation and redness look about right for my toes. Right now, I've got one that's swollen on the pad (usually swells at the top, on the knuckle closest to the nail) and is very uncomfortable to walk on and bend.

I found some conflicting information that says big doses of Vitamin C can both help and harm gout. I've been taking "mega doses" pretty regularly since before this inflammation started in January. The only pain I've ever experienced in my toes was when Hulky accidentally tapped them or I accidentally hit them on something while they were inflamed. So maybe it's not gout.

My doctor doesn't want to see me about my toes again :rolleyes:. I better made that dermatologist appointment.

04-25-2013, 06:24 AM

namelesswonder

My mom convinced me to go to the ER. Hulky thinks it looks like staph, which I had thought before. I'm really hoping the ER will diagnose it so I can go to my doctor and say, "SUCK IT YOU SHOULD HAVE DIAGNOSED THIS." If it's something that needs antibiotics (probably), my poor gut is going to take even longer to recover, but I'd like to have comfortable and functioning toes.

So, yeah. I didn't go biking last night. I am also going to be down to $37 today after my ER co-pay. At least I get paid tomorrow! The next two weeks are going to be tight :(.

I feel so guilty for not going to work, even if I'm missing it for rather important reasons!

04-25-2013, 06:57 AM

jenn26point2

Definitely interested in knowing what the ER docs think.

04-25-2013, 10:24 AM

namelesswonder

Okay, I'll stop making assumptions. They don't know. They are setting me up with referrals to a rheumatologist and dermatologist. I'm working the rest of the day from home and feeling super guilty about it.